Luca followed his team mates into the building. It was darker inside and he waited for his eyes to adjust to the low light. The torches attached to the end of their guns were the only light. Hondo and Deacon went one way and Luca followed Tan the other. It was quiet as they cleared the building. Tan and Luca found themselves in the auto shop. As they searched between the cars Hondo spoke over the radio:
'Clear our way. Doubling back to you both now.'
'Rodger,' Tan spoke into his radio as we started to climb the stairs. It was clear at the top and we followed the door into a hallway. This part of the building looked abandoned. There were six flats on this floor alone to clear. The door clicked behind them and the team was back together.
They moved through the flats with the procession they trained so hard to achieve. One after the other came up empty. They were starting to believe this was a wild goose chase when they came to the stairs at the other end of the corridor. Hondo signalled for them to go up. They found the same on the next level, six flats to clear.
The building had been quiet since they arrived. The first two flats both came up empty, but the third the door was hanging dangerously off one hinge. There was a chair in the middle of the room. Cut ropes abandoned at its feet.
'They were here,' Deac cut through the silence. The others looked to him questioning how he knew. They had all looked at the room. It looked like all the others, apart from the chair in the middle with the ropes and a pile of cigarette butts on the floor opposite. 'This has to be them,' he gestured to the empty chair. 'Someone was sat watching a hostage. Who else is it going to be?'
'At least we know he's alive,' Tan was hopeful, you don't go to the bother of tying someone up if you're planning to kill them straight away.
'Looks like they've cleared out,' Luca had swept the rest of the small flat .
'We'll check the rest of the building,' Hondo directed them. They moved out into the corridor following orders, but their heads were already down. They would have to start their search all over again praying that they would make it to Street and Chris in time.
Street's head was thumping. The dry blood was itching on the side of his face. Once again she had managed to surprise him. He had assumed that the threat was going to come from in front of him, from the men; but of course it was Chris.
He had pushed too hard to start with, he should have gone in more slowly. Their conversation hadn't exactly gone well. Chris had withdrawn into herself and was motionless in front of him. He hoped that she was just embarrassed about nearly keeling over, Chris would have hated that.
With her back against the wall, her legs were crossed, her hands in her lap. Her hair had grown out a little, and was longer than he had ever seen it. The dark strands hung over her face hiding any expression from him. He had only witnessed her do this on one occasion before. It had scared the hell out of him the first time, but this time it just reminded Street that she was still Chris; this was her way of dealing.
He knew he had to give her some time. She needed it, but it killed him that he wasn't able to hold her close and comfort her. Last time when he had taken her in his arms she had gone stiff at first, but Street hadn't let her go and she'd relaxed into it. They had sat with her curled up against him till the sun had gone down and the only light in the room came from the street lamps outside. She hadn't made a noise the whole time. Street had listened to her breathing, his cheek resting on her hair and found the time had melted away. When she did eventually move Street had found his arms cold and empty without her.
Now she was alone. She didn't know how loved she was. That he was risking his life to try and reach out to her, to get her to come home. It was eating away at him as the minutes pasted by and she remained on the floor in front of him. He couldn't touch her. He doubted that she would let him hold her if he wasn't tied up, but she looked so small and drained he needed to make this better for her.
Street was broken from his thoughts by movement in the hall. Someone was coming towards them. He looked from the door back to Chris. She hadn't heard them. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he waited for the person to show themselves.
'You're awake then,' Alvaro stood in the doorway. Street was kind of relieved that the team hadn't found them. He hadn't managed to talk to Chris as much has he had hoped.
'How was Dee?' Chris smirked at him from her place on the floor.
'Fucking fantastic.' This guy and Dee had obviously just hooked up and Street judged the chummy banter he was in the middle of. Alvaro was grinning stupidly at Chris. She rolled her eyes as she smiled widely back at him. 'Had any problems?' He asked her glancing at Street quickly.
'Like looking after a garden gnome,' she replied, much to Street's astonishment. She really had just flipped a switch when this guy had shown up.
'Well he puts up a fight like one,' Alvaro remarked resulting in a chuckle from Chris. He walked over to her and held out a hand. She took it without thinking and Street watched her carefully as she transitioned from the floor.
'I brought you something,' his hand went to something in his jacket pocket. Street's mind went straight to the food she needed to eat. At least someone was looking out for her.
'What do you think this bribe is worth then?' she goaded him knowing he had only brought her something because he had been gone so long and didn't want Benz to know about it.
'Come on I was gone ten minutes,' he half moaned, half joked with her.
'Try forty-five,' she was taking no nonsense. 'Come to think of it I was meant to be meeting Benz. I'll have to explain why I am so late,'
'Geeze Jamie,' he looked a little nervous that she wasn't joking anymore. Street could tell she was, but she had this guy on the hook. 'Your favourite,' he produced a bottle of whiskey from his pocket handing it over to her. She uncapped it at once taking a swig. 'Aren't you going to share?' she started walking out of the room, but turned back to him from the doorway.
'Never,' she sent him a wicked grin and was gone. Street could only watch with his mouth open.
